Germany, The Next Republic? eBook

The White, Yellow, Grey and Blue Books, which all
of the belligerents published after the beginning
of the war, dealt only with the attempts of these
nations to prevent the war. None of the nations
has as yet published white books to show how it prepared
for war, and still, every nation in Europe had been
expecting and preparing for a European conflagration.
Winston Churchill, when he was First Lord of the
Admiralty, stated at the beginning of the war that
England’s fleet was mobilised. France
had contributed millions of francs to fortify the
Russian border in Poland, although Germany had made
most of the guns. Belgium had what the Kaiser
called, “a contemptible little army” but
the soldiers knew how to fight when the invaders came.
Germany had new 42 cm. guns and a network of railroads
which operated like shuttles between the Russian and
French and Belgian frontiers. Ever since 1870
Europe had been talking war. Children were brought
up and educated into the belief that some day war
would come. Most people considered it inevitable,
although not every one wanted it.

During the exciting days of August, 1914, I was calling
at the belligerent embassies and legations in Washington.
Neither M. Jusserand, the French Ambassador, nor
Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the British Ambassador, nor
Count von Bernstorff, the Kaiser’s representative,
were in Washington then. But it was not many
weeks until all three had hastened to this country
from Europe. Almost the first act of the belligerents
was to send their envoys to Washington.

As I met these men I was in a sense an agent of public
opinion who called each day to report the opinions
of the belligerents to the readers of American newspapers.
One day at the British Embassy I was given copies
of the White Book and of many other documents which
Great Britain had issued to show how she tried to
avoid the war. In conversations later with Ambassador
von Bernstorff, I was given the German viewpoint.

The thing which impressed me at the time was the desire
of these officials to get their opinions before the
American people. But why did these ambassadors
want the standpoints of their governments understood
over here? Why was the United States singled
out of all other neutrals? If all the belligerents
really wanted to avoid war, why did they not begin
twenty years before, to prevent it, instead of, to
prepare for it?

All the powers issued their official documents for
one primary purpose—­to win public opinion.
First, it was necessary for each country to convince
its own people that their country was being attacked
and that their leaders had done everything possible
to avoid war. Even in Europe people would not
fight without a reason. The German Government
told the people that unless the army was mobilised
immediately Russia would invade and seize East Prussia.
England, France and Belgium explained to their people
that Germany was out to conquer the world by way of
Belgium and France. But White Books were not
circulated alone in Europe; they were sent by the hundreds
of thousands into the United States and translated
into every known language so that the people of the
whole world could read them.